fabric-palooza

OK, so this is really just a greedy post about fabric. It looks like a LOT (and it is a LOT), but I hasten to point out that it comes from three separate purchases over the last few months (some of which were gifts). Please don't judge me harshly for my greedy fabric addiction. I am planning to join a 12-step program as soon as one is available for fabric collection.


My mom came for a visit and asked (naively and sweetly!) if there was anything that I would like her to bring. UMmmmmm...our IKEA doesn't sell any fabric, but it sure looks fun. I sent her and my sister off on an expedition to pick out their favourites and surprise me. Here is what they liked:

This is the only one that I specifically requested, I kind of like the idea of it pulled over stretcher frames as an artwork:

The the lovely Donna (have you noticed that I always call her the lovely Donna?) from Kindred Crafters was placing an order with Pink Chalk Fabrics (a great place to buy fabric!). Sometimes we pool our orders and save on international shipping! Here is what I succumbed to:

Kona solids (pomegranate and celery) and one Japanese print

Some lovely Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley in the New Day and Fiesta colour ways.

Then I decided that my birthday was coming and that I should really treat myself since there was such an AMAZING sale at Fabric.com. I bought a whack of Anna Maria Horner (Garden Party) fabrics for almost free! I believe that they worked out to around $3/yard. It would have been silly to pass them up, non?

Some random other fabrics that I picked out because they were on sale (and I liked them!) and it is always $25 for international shipping. Gotta get my $$ worth from the shipping right? The only solution? Lots of yardage. Lots. It brings down the shipping vs. yard ratio and is therefore a bargain, right? Don't you dare correct me on this delusion! ;)

Finally, some decor weight Amy Butler August Fields. Hmm...the colour is mintier than I had imagined.

And so closes my chapter in greed. I have been busily stitching for my partner in the { Urban } HOME Goods modern swap. I'll post some sneaky hint posts in the coming days.

Birthdays and breaks

Hope that everybody had a great long weekend! Not only was it the Easter long weekend, but at our house....it was also my birthday long weekend. Yippee! I love to drag out a birthday celebration for as long as humanly possible. Much longer than is appropriate really.

It was eerily calm at our house this weekend. This was not by accident. It was one of my birthday "gifts" from my husband. You see, I have a habit of scheduling every free moment, but he organized a "non-planned, do what you want on a whim" kind of a weekend . Let me be clear - I am scheduling my life with things that I love and with people that I love, but sometimes a calm, quiet, non-scheduled weekend is just what one requires. It was strangely liberating. We spent a lot of time outside doing nothing of any importance, but full of sunshine and enjoyment!

I must confess, however, it turns out that I don't just sit still well...so I spent much of the weekend with some hexagons in my hands. This was a completely directionless and relaxing task. I'm not really sure what I will do with these hexagons. I had imagined making a wall hanging and taking it into my office at work to fight off the BEIGE. Not sure if that's what I'm going to do now. Work has been busy and sort of yucky lately (temporarily, I'm sure!). Not too sure if I want to subject my lovely hexagons to work and the beige. Is it crazy to be protective of scraps of fabric made into hexagons? Probably! Perhaps they will become a lovely cushion for home???

As you can see, my son is very keen on all of the colours. Here he is helping to model my hexagons:

Here I go...back into real life. Luckily, the weekend is not far away...

My first "swap"

I have long wanted to participate in a crafty swap. The lovely Donna from Kindred Crafters directed me to the { Urban } HOME Goods modern swap which is being hosted Kerri (sewdeerlyloved) and Heather (a la mode fabric). I am pretty excited to be exchanging something for my home with other crafty types.

Here is the mosaic that I posted to inspire my swap partner:

1. Detail of "Spot On" Circle Quilt, 2. four little fabric buckets, 3. you totally don't gnome me!, 4. Hexagon pillow, 5. soft house street, 6. 6.365, 7. pillows, 8. Colorful Crafting with Jen: Rickie's Sashiko Pillow, 9. Engagement Gift - 4, 10. The End Result, 11. 'Strawberry Sundae' wall art, 12. "Hand Stitched" Embroidery SWAP, 13. Practice for The Pillow Talk Swap - ROUND 2, 14. Linen Zippered Bag, 15. button hole, 16. Union Jack Pillow with Liberty prints, 17. London, England, 18. sewing machine cover front, 19. Tea Cozy, 20. Untitled, 21. AMH Quilt, 22. Good Folks Quilt: Back, 23. Little House, 24. Half Square Triangle Quilt - no binding

I can't wait to share the hand-made crafty love and to show you what I receive and what I make. I really love the idea of putting together an "inspiration" mosaic. It should be good fun to try to guess at something that a total stranger will love.

There is still time to share in the swap. The registration deadline is March 22nd. Hurry and get in on the crafty-swap goodness!

EeEEEE - look what was waiting for me at home today!

I quickly tore into the package to reveal:


Check out the sweet little gnome faces!:


I will probably drop these little gnome friends into the wash fairly quickly to make sure that they don't fade on me. There has been some talk on Flickr that the fabrics aren't as colourfast as they ought to be....although it sounds like this isn't true for all colours (luckily!).

The Spoonflower colours are lovely and bright (YUM!), but the fabric is not nearly as soft as Heather Ross's fabric from Free Spirit.

They do however, have lovely gnomes and mushrooms which I was not lucky enough to purchase on their first run. Don't you just love the selvage edges of the fabric?

I had to laugh...while I was snapping pictures (under my bad dining room light because I just can't wait until daylight tomorrow morning!), my son shoved his truck onto the table. "Here Mommy" he said "Take a picture of my backhoe so that you will have a really pretty picture!".

OK Evan. Here is a "really pretty picture". Lovely Heather Ross fabrics and my son's favourite "Mighty Machine". True loveliness!

Too early to be excited?

(source)

I believe that I have mentioned before...I llllllooooooooove me some hand stitching. Isn't it exciting that Alicia Paulson (Posie Gets Cozy herself) is releasing an embroidery book this summer?

Smarch.

I have never been a big fan of March. Generally it is the loooooongest month. It is the month when you think winter should end, but it doesn't - generally. This month it has been bEEEeautiful! Sunny and warm and lovely.

Unfortunately, it has been a rough month in our house where the weather has not been adequately enjoyed. We spent the first week sick (again! How can that even be possible???) and just when we were on the mend our daycare provider had a serious fall. This means that we have been trying to cover full time work and full time daycare duties. MAN - it makes you really appreciate just how great our daycare provider really is (she is going to be fine BTW!).

At any rate...we are nearly out of March (SSSssmarch), our least favourite month of the year and into lovely April! C'mon April! 3 cheers for Spring! Hooray, Hoora, Yippee!

The new "schedule" has severely limited my actual crafting time, but I do have a completed project to share. It is a lovely zig-zag quilt that was started many moons ago. I had completed the top quite some time ago and it sat unfinished while I hemmed and hawed over the back. Just my usual dither until simple inspiration hits (or at least until my indecisiveness is set aside and I proceed with the project exactly how I had first planned to before indecision took hold).

This quilt is lovely and cheerful and bright - exactly everything that Spring should be!

Without further ado, I am excited to show you the finished quilt:

Back:

Close up of the back:

I don't always name my quilts, but I have decided to call this one Spring Zig, March Zag.

Bunting goodness

I have been wanting to make some bunting for my son's room for quite some time...and here it is finished and on the walls:



Cute, non?

The entire house (well nearly!) was painted this beige colour when we moved in. It was not offensive, but lately I am finding it dull, dull, dull (and then dull some more). It could be that there has been very little natural light, but it could also be that the beige is dull.

Don't these cheery little flags go a good way in brightening up the room? I suppose that I could just bite the bullet and repaint the room....but I haven't! In the meanwhile, this bunting makes the room cheery enough for a three year old again.

There is even a bit of his favourite fabric (Tot Town by Michael Miller). Yes...I had only very small scraps left so I had to add some solid in to streeeeeeeetch the Tot Town scraps far enough for 2 flags.



You may recognize that I have used this fabric before for the boy in quilt format. He insists on using the "back" as the top, because he can look a the large piece of construction machine fabric. Hmph.


He has a point though...it is nice to look at such bright colours!